'Tough voyage' says her father Ravinder
JAMMU: Originally hailing from village Pinglish, tehsil Tral in district Pulwama (Kashmir), born and brought up in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and working for sporting excellence in Pune (Maharastra), sensational Tennis Star Ankita Raina is a familiar name in the world of Tennis and No-1 Tennis player in India.
Ankita, the daughter of the soil, who has set an example on the national and international scene, is among a very few sporting stars from the Kashmiri Pandit community, who have carved a space on the country's sports map. Indian Cricketer Suresh Raina, Chief Wushu Coach of India Kuldeep Handoo and young footballer Ishan Pandita are a few others to name.
"The journey began with our mass exodus from the valley in early 90's when our family flew to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) where Ankita was born on January 23, 1993 and it was a tough voyage for me being a private employee as I along with my wife Lalita and little son Ankur had to make avenues for survival in exile. However, I managed to cope up with the circumstances and carried on. In the year 1998, I put my 8-year son Ankur in the Tennis Training Centre at Ahmedabad and my daughter 4-year Ankita used to accompany him, which marked the beginning of Ankita's sporting journey," said Ankita's father Ravinder Krishen Raina.
He added that as a kid Ankita was very much interested in dancing and drawing. She has won a few awards in dance as she used to mesmerise audiences with her bharatnatyam performances.
He further said before shifting Ankita for advanced training to Pune, he had admitted her in a mission school namely Mount Carmel at Ahmedabad where she studied upto 8th standard. At Pune, she met her guru (Coach) in Hemant Bendrey at Gymkhana Centre, who shaped her sporting career. Then I made her take part in various Tennis tournaments at Pune, Chennai, Vijayawada and so on, where she excelled and did not look back. Rest is history.
"More than myself it has been Lalita (Ankita's mother) who played a key role in her transformative years to climb the ladder of success," said Mr Ravinder.
Ankita (31) 5' 4" tall daughter of the soil, has won one title on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 tournament (both in doubles), along with 11 singles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 in the singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat. Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the 2016 South Asian Games, and a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games. Raina is one of only two women representing India who have won a WTA Tour-level title.
Playing for the India Fed Cup team, Raina has a win–loss record of 30–24. She has notable wins over 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur, Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki former world No. 5 Sara Errani, and multiple doubles grand slam winner Barbora.
For her achievements at the Asian Games and South Asian Games, Ankita was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2021, which was presented to her by the then President of India, Ramnath Kovind.
Ankita Raina, who tied the knot with her long time beau Milind Sharma in Pune on December 15, 2023 said that it was great to end 2023 with their wedding.
The Ahmedabad based Kashmiri Pandit girl, India's top female tennis player, who is currently at Indore (Madhya Pradesh) in connection with a tennis tournament said balancing personal life with professional life was not everybody's cup of tea, adding that she felt lucky to have married someone who shared the same values.
Sharing her experience of climbing up all the way back after she was twice down with Covid in 2020 and losing almost about six months, Ankita said that she was grateful that she has been able to compete at that level back-to-back after the Covid tragedy.
"Lively seasons followed and I have been competing well against top players of the world and beating some of them. God has been kind," maintained Ms Ankita.
Ankita is simply the pride of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in general and the Kashmiri Pandit community in particular.
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